GAME DESIGN INCOMPUTER

SCIENCESTART

WHY TEACHGAME DESIGN ?

• Motivates, interests and engages.• Teaches problem solving skills.• Allows for creativity and imagination.• Demonstrates project design.• Encourages teamwork.• Has many cross-curricular components.

ADVANTAGES• Coding is NOT necessarily required.• Both commercial and freeware software is

available online.• All students are interested in video games of

some type.• The finished product is interactive. Students

are eager to share their games with their friends.

SIMPLIFIED PROCESS• Brainstorm.• Create a design document.• Create sprites & define their properties.• Define events and actions.• Design interface and gameplay.• Music and sound effects.• Programming.• Testing, testing and more testing.

BRAINSTORMING• Daydream and come up with creative ideas

for a game.• Once you have an idea:– is it a really good idea?– is it worth spending time and energy on?– do you have access to the necessary resources?

• If you are rehashing an existing game, does it improve the original and bring new challenges?

DESIGN DOCUMENT• a document that describes and defines all

pertinent details of the game in development, including presentation methods, the story line, instructional strategies, flowcharts and gameplay.

(International Game Developers Association)

DESIGN DOCUMENT• Considers the target audience.• Specifies the game’s core objectives.• Lists the challenges or levels.• Describes how the player will interface and

how many players can play.• Depicts a theme or genre.• Defines unique features that are essential to

gameplay.

SPRITES• Two or three-dimensional images that are

part of an animation or larger scene.• There are over 1,500 sprites in Super Mario

Brothers 3.

EVENTS• Actions that take place as a result of another

action.• One event can trigger a series of events.Examples:• Collision between objects.• User clicks an object or presses a key.• The timer reaches a specific value.• Sprite enters or leaves the frame.

GAMEPLAYAND INTERFACE

• How many players can play? Will they take turns, or will they play at the same time?

• What input mechanism will the player use?Keyboard? Mouse? Controller? or Combination?

• How will the game menus be laid out and what will they look like?

• What will the levels, worlds or frame look like?

• In what ways can the sprites move? What other properties do they have?

• Is a score calculated? Do players get more than one life?

• Is there a time limit to complete a level or certain task?

GAMEPLAYAND INTERFACE

MUSIC ANDSOUND EFFECTS

• Music helps set the theme and bring the game to life.

• Affects the mood of the player on both the conscious and subconscious level.

• Sound effects emphasize events taking place or draw the player’s attention to a certain event – less is more.

PROGRAMMING• Games can be programmed using virtually any

programming language, including:– Java– C++– Visual Basic

• Much easier to use a game creation engine:– Game Editor– The Games Factory– Game Maker

GAME MAKER• Lite version is freeware (www.yoyogames.com)• Uses an object-oriented, event-driven

approach.• Many built-in functions.• Drag and drop.• Allows coding for advanced users.• Comes with a picture, sprite and animation

editor built-in.• Many tutorials and teaching resources

available.

TESTING• Functionality testing is done by playing the

game.• Look for general problems with the game or

its interface.• Is the game stable? When/why does it

crash?• Are the game mechanics correct?• Are the graphics displayed properly?

CROSS-CURRICULARCOMPONENTS

• Graphic Design• Music & Sound Effects• Game Promoting & Marketing• Game Documentation & Packaging• Project Management• Issues of Violence, Health, Intellectual

Property, Addiction